Probe depth cutter



April 3, 1956 M. L. WATSON 2,740,330

PROBE DEPTH CUTTER Filed Feb. 5, 1946 FIG. 2

" INVENTOR MICHAEL L.. WATSON PROBE DEPTH CUTTER Michael L. Watson, Rochester, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Application February 5, 1946, Serial No. 645,629

1 Claim. (Cl. 90-12) This invention relates to a cutting machine and more particularly to a portable cutting machine equipped to cut dipole probes to precise dimensions after they have been fastened into a Wave guide wall.

In the construction of scanner arrays such as dipole antenna scanner arrays used in connection with wave guides, it is necessary that the probes extending into the wave guides extend therein to different predetermined depths. In practice, it has also been found desirable that the end of the probe protruding into the interior of the wave guide be rounded off in such a manner as to present a hemispherical surface to the microwave energy carried by the wave guide. This invention provides a cutting tool whereby wire probes which have previously been assembled in a wave guide may be quickly and accurately cut to different predetermined depths of penetration in the wave guide, and which will simultaneously form a hemispherical surface upon the end of the probe being cut.

An object of this invention is to provide a cutting tool for cutting wire probes to a predetermined length.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cutting tool for cutting wire probes to a predetermined length after such probes have been mounted in the wall of a wave guide.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a cutting tool for simultaneously cutting wire probes to a predetermined length and rounding the ends thereof to a hemispherical shape.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following specification and claim when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a partially sectional view of a wave guide having an array of dipole antennas mounted thereon;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 11-11 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 isa partially sectional view of a probe cutter constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention.

Referring now to the figures and particularly to Fig. 1 there is disclosed a wave guide having a plurality of longitudinally spaced dipole probes 22 comprising an array of dipole antennas. It is seen from the figure that these probes are of different lengths, being relatively short at one end and gradually increasing in length towards the other end. One of these probes 22 is disclosed in Fig. 2 with the associated structure to form a dipole in a wave guide. Probe 22 is secured to, and extends through, metallic sleeve 25 forming the driven pole 26 of a dipole antenna. It is to be noted that the end of the probe Within wave guide 10 has a hemispherical end formed thereon. As shown in Fig. 1 the probes have different lengths along the longitudinal axis of the wave guide. The wall of the wave guide opposite the probe is a separate piece of metal, being secured in position after the probes are cut to the proper length and their ends rounded.

Referring now to Fig. 3 there is a sectional view of a nited States Patent 'ice probe cutter. constructed in accordancewith the principles of thisii'nvention. The entire machine including its drivi'ngmotorrisaboutthesize of a smalli hand dril-ll- For the present purpose a ,4 H. P. electric motor was chosen which revolves the cutter at 7500 R. P. M. The driving motor may be operatively connected either to one end of the cutter drive 29 or to bushing 12 as may be desirable. This high cutter speed was selected since it is appropriate to the small diameters of the probes being cut. If a thicker probe were required, a lower speed and larger cutter would be required.

In order to prevent chatter and undesirable wobble of the cutting tool, one end of cutter drive 29 is fastened to a motor shaft 32 which, together with motor 33 is securely held in place by a bracket 33a fastened to sleeve 14 by means of a pair of bolts 34 and 35. The ball bearing 17 and the shaft of the driving motor thus form a firm support for the cutting tool. Cutter drive 29 and cutting tool 11 are operatively connected by means of a suitable bushing 12 through action of set screws 36 and 37. The holder itself is made in two parts, guide 16 and sleeve 14, the combination of which constitute a micrometer, a micrometer scale 20 being formed on the circumference of guide 16. The guide completely encloses the cutter and its outside surface terminates, on an axis with the tool, in an insert 19 which terminates in nozzle 13 into which the probe or wire may be inserted. Diagonal openings 18 cut in the front of the insert 19 permit the ejection of metal scraps from the device.

In operation, the guide 16 may be moved longitudinally with respect to sleeve 14, in order to vary the spacing between the outer edge of nozzle 13 and the cutting edge 31 of member 11, by rotating the guide in a micrometer thread 30. A micrometer scale 20 on the circumference of guide 16 indicates the depth to which a probe may be inserted into nozzle 13 before cutting begins. A thumb screw 15 is threadably mounted in the wall of sleeve 14 to maintain guide 16 and sleeve 14 in a fixed relationship after the depth to which a probe may be set before cutting occurs has been determined. The machine is placed over the probe and the cutter revolved to cut it down until the outside surface of the nozzle 13 touches the wave guide Wall.

The entire machine can be partially placed in a small sized wave guide in order to precisely cut and symmetrically round the ends of the probes.

The invention described in the foregoing specification need not be limited to the details shown, which are con sidered to be illustrative of one form the invention may take.

What is claimed is:

A device for cutting wire probes in a wave guide to a desired length comprising, a sleeve, a guide threadably mounted in said sleeve, a thumb screw penetrating said sleeve and adapted to bear against said guide for retaining said sleeve and said guide in a fixed relationship, a bushing disposed within said guide, a motor and motor shaft mounted at one end of said sleeve, said motor shaft extending into said bushing, a cutting tool also inserted in said bushing opposite said motor shaft, means for connecting said bushing separately to said motor shaft and to said cutting tool whereby a rotary motion may be imparted to said cutting tool, a micrometer scale on the external surface of said guide, and a detachable nozzle affixed to the end of said guide for the insertion therein of said wire probes to contact said cutting tool, said nozzle being provided with openings therein whereby scraps cut from said wire probes may be ejected from the nozzle.

(References on following page) References Cited in the file of this patent 2,464,107 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,527,963

136,112 Ward Feb. 18, 1873 1,055,013 Bennington et a1. Mar. 4, 1913 5 684,634 1,581,719 Carter Apr. 20, 1926 571,130 1,874,232 Groene Aug. 30, 1932 Waters Mar; 8, 1949 Sherman et a1 Oct. 31, 1950 FOREIGB'I PATENTS France Mar. 18, 1930 Great Britain Aug. 8, 1945 

